There will be significant increases in output with a live, two hour, television News programme, broadcasting on weekdays between 9.00am and 11.00am on RTÉ One, starting early next year.
And the New Year will also see a new-look Prime Time broadcasting from a dedicated and larger studio. Prime Time and The Frontline will become more unified, sharing the studio and creating greater flexibility in the presentation and format of the programmes across the three nights. Pat Kenny and Miriam O’Callaghan will stay at the heart of RTÉ’s current affairs output and will be joined by Claire Byrne as co-presenter and by George Lee who will bring his economic and business expertise to the programme. All four will continue to present their respective radio programmes on RTÉ Radio 1; Today with Pat Kenny, Miriam Meets…., The Business and Saturday with Claire Byrne. And major investigative output will also return in the New Year.

David Nally, Managing Editor of TV Current Affairs said of the changes: “I’m delighted that current affairs will be an even more prominent part of the RTÉ One TV schedule in 2013 and that we’ll have greater flexibility to mix the talents of our presenting and reporting teams and provide a greater variety of formats to our viewers.”

The Week in Politics is moving to an earlier time of midday on RTÉ One on Sundays, as well as keeping its later evening transmission; giving viewers an earlier opportunity to catch up on weekly political events with Sean O’Rourke. The programme will also be available on the RTÉ Player and RTÉ News Now from lunchtime.

New roles have been created within the RTÉ News and Current Affairs area. These are correspondent positions in Science and Technology and GAA and an Assignments Editor, Political News. Appointments will also be made to the positions of Editor, Prime Time; Head of Investigative Unit; Managing Editor, News (Television); and Western correspondent in the next few weeks.
Other developments include a new-look News on Two and an up-dated RTÉ News Now app. The existing RTÉ News website (www.rte.ie/news) will also be re-vamped, as will the Morning Ireland radio studio.

There will be significant emphasis on cutting-edge technology for faster news-gathering. RTÉ News has committed to using the latest expertise in order to provide the best service to its viewing, listening and online audiences. This will include a roll out of smartphones with a capacity to feed directly into News bulletins and plans to link up with a wireless network in Dublin which will enable journalists to report live from anywhere in the capital.
At the announcement of these developments this morning, Kevin Bakhurst, said:

“These changes are a very clear signal of our commitment to strong current affairs programming and to investigative journalism. And as we bring in the latest technology to deliver our content, we will position RTÉ News as one of the most modern, multi-platform broadcasters in Europe.”